


Returning A Favor

by consideritalljoy



Category: Star Wars: Thrawn - Timothy Zahn
Genre: Fluff, Gen, eli's not the one being angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 17:53:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14774363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/consideritalljoy/pseuds/consideritalljoy
Summary: I've been sitting on this mental image for a while and it was fun to finally write it. :)





	Returning A Favor

“Sir?” Commander Eli Vanto said to his commanding officer. As the two strode down the halls of the Chimera at an even quicker pace than normal, Eli finally found the courage to say what he had been considering for quite some time. Now all he needed was for Thrawn to listen.

“Sir?” he asked again. 

“Yes, Commander?” Thrawn answered. His tone was absentminded, his eyes still trained on a datapad. After their last run-in with Nightswan, Thrawn hadn’t calmed down. The mystery seemed like it was starting to get to him in a way Eli didn’t like. 

“May we speak in private when next we both are off duty?” he asked. 

It took Thrawn a few seconds to respond. Thrawn’s responses were never delayed. That this one was only strengthened Eli’s fear. “Could you repeat that, Commander?”

Eli’s voice was steady. “When we get off I’d like to talk to you privately, sir.” 

“Ah. Very well, Commander. Meet me in my quarters at your leisure.” With that, Thrawn’s attention was back off Eli. 

Now, Eli didn’t mind fixation on problems while on duty. A single focus was necessary much of the time, and Eli’s request seemed casual, as well as personal. That said, Eli favored fixation on solvable problems specifically. The problems Thrawn had been obsessing over of late… weren’t all that solvable, at least, not yet. Like the Nightswan thing. 

That wasn’t the only thing causing Eli concern. Even fixation on seemingly unsolvable problems wouldn’t bother him too much if they were contained to time spent on the bridge. But they weren’t. Perhaps the most haunting cue that Eli needed to say something was when Thrawn had stopped looking at art. 

That was a few weeks ago now. Eli had grown accustomed to the holos of art swirling around Thrawn’s quarters whenever he was there. On Thrawn’s datapad whenever he was off duty. Suddenly, those had all stopped, replaced by extra research on Nightswan. If the subtle bags under Thrawn’s eyes were any indication, the Chiss had also given up on sleep. Add to all that how Eli couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Thrawn eat more than a ration bar (and usually only because Eli had handed him one and Thrawn hadn’t stopped to notice), and Eli Vanto found himself watching a recipe for disaster. 

This wasn’t a problem that was just going to go away on its own. 

When the appointed hour finally arrived, Eli brought a satchel and hoped Thrawn wouldn’t ask. He didn’t worry much. Thrawn hadn’t noticed much in the last few weeks. 

“Sir?” he asked at the door. 

“Ah, yes, Commander Vanto. Come in; at ease.” As Eli opened the door, he saw Thrawn sitting at his desk, several holograms of block text swirling around him as he switched among several at once. No art. Just more words and numbers. More his style than Thrawn’s, really—definitely not Thrawn’s. 

Eli didn’t let himself be phased and walked in, allowing himself a bit of the Lysatran posture that he hid during his time in the military. “I assume you remember that I asked to talk to you,” he began. 

Thrawn didn’t look up. “Indeed. That is why you are here, is it not?”

Eli nodded. “Yeah. So, um. Don’t suppose you could maybe leave the Nightswan stuff until after we’re done…”

The holograms stayed, but Thrawn looked up. “Is something wrong, Commander?”

“Yes. Well, kind of. Yeah, okay, yes.”

Thrawn steepled his hands and continued to look at Eli, though his eyes kept flitting to the various holograms around him. “Can it wait? I have much to do, as I’m sure you are aware.”

“I am, yes. But no, it can’t really wait,” Eli answered as confidently as he could. He didn’t like standing up to Thrawn, and it was hardly his place anyway. But he and Thrawn were more than military associates, weren’t they? He could say what he was about to, surely. It was only fair, after all Thrawn had done back while they were at the Academy, and even after that, when he’d gone to Lysatra for a week. 

Eli stood up a little straighter, knowing Thrawn could probably already sense his discomfort. That is. If he were paying enough attention. “I’m going to put this bluntly. I once knew someone who reminded me that life forms require care. Like sleeping, and eating. And sometimes even fun.”

Thrawn looked at him for several seconds, the data momentarily forgotten. “I stand by all that I have advised to you. However, there are times when a healthy life form must forego care in favor of efficiency. My position falls into that category at present.”

“Sir, forgive me, but it really doesn’t,” Eli forced out quickly, before he lost the nerve. “It would if this was more short-term, but it isn’t. You’ve said that it isn’t. This is going to take… months. Possibly years. You can’t harm yourself like this for that long, or when you one day face Nightswan, as I’m sure you will, you won’t be healthy enough to beat him.” 

Thrawn continued to stare at him unblinkingly. At least he was paying attention. Eli stood fast and chanted himself not to shrivel up under the gaze. 

At long last, Thrawn opened his mouth and responded. “I appreciate your bringing this to my attention.” Finally, he switched off the holograms. “You were under no obligation to repay me for any perceived aid earlier in our careers, and so I thank you for the gesture. Perhaps I should develop a better system for incorporating sleep and sustenance without interfering with my work. If that will be all, I will begin considering such a system.”

“Timed sleep and ration bars are all well and good,” Eli continued, “but that’s still not enough. It’s just like what all you said at the Academy, sir. You have to live, not just function. And living will help you function better. If that makes sense.” He sighed once more and words spilled from his mouth. “I know you feel bad about him getting away. So do I. It happens. I’m sorry, but it does. No one is perfect—not even you. But you can’t spend your life hating yourself for your failures. And you can’t turn your whole life into some vendetta project against yourself. There, I said it. And if you’re going to ask me again if ‘that will be all,’ well, yes. This is pretty much all I have to say. Sir.”

Thrawn blinked, slowly. Then he blinked again. Eli waited in anticipation, half expecting to be dressed down. In one tiny motion, Thrawn bent his neck slightly in a nod, and his posture slackened microscopically. “Thank you, Commander. Eli. Truly. You may be right.”

“So… are we still good? You and me, I mean?”

“What is your meaning?”

“Like… I don’t know, I guess I expected you to be mad.” Eli rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Guess I’m not sure why, but I did. Are you?”

Thrawn smiled. “Not at all.” As if seeing him for the first time, Thrawn’s eyes finally came to rest on the satchel Eli had brought with him. “What do you carry with you?”

“Oh, that,” Eli answered with a suddenly wide grin. “I was hoping you wouldn’t be mad, because this is for you. Well, for us. I picked it up last time we were on-world for a while.” He reached into the bag and pulled out two tubs, each of which was a bit larger than Eli’s hand. 

Thrawn’s eyes widened and Eli couldn’t help but let out a small giggle at the Chiss’s immediate change in demeanor. “Yeah, I was thinking you and I could watch one of the holovids I was meaning to show you, and have these. I remembered how much you liked the ice cream back on Coruscant.”

“That seems like a most well-conceived plan,” Thrawn agreed without hesitation, standing as he spoke. “I am aware that I have been shirking my duty toward your lessons in human culture of late. I assume the holovids count as one?” 

Eli laughed. “Anything’s a lesson if you pay enough attention, so sure. They’re good holovids, and that’s all I really care about.”

“Your cabin or mine?” Thrawn asked, heading toward the door. 

“Definitely yours. That way I can actually force you into bed before leaving when we’re done,” Eli responded, following after. 

“Another well-conceived plan,” Thrawn commented. “Commander Vanto, forgive me if I have used the human phrase incorrectly, but I would say that you seem to be ‘on a roll’ tonight.”

“You’re using the phrase rightly, and frankly, I definitely agree,” Eli replied, unable to grin wider. 

When the two had settled down in Thrawn’s cabin, Eli in the chair and wrapped in Thrawn’s blanket, and Thrawn sitting on the bed, they spent the next few hours eating as much ice cream as they could consume and laughing over Eli’s favorite Lysatran holovids. At the end of the night, Eli disposed of the containers and they both slept long and well. 

Thrawn was looking at art again the next morning.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been sitting on this mental image for a while and it was fun to finally write it. :)


End file.
